Maryville had two chances in the waning seconds to tie or go ahead of Lake Superior State but was unable to find the range as the Lakers held off a late Saints rally for a 54-52 win. The game was the finale for Maryville at the GLVC-GMAC Challenge held in Nashville, Tenn.
The Saints took a 20-17 lead on Armon Provo's jumper with 8:41 left in the first half. However, Maryville didn't score for almost five minutes to allow the Lakers to edge ahead 23-20. Damyan Stoyanov grabbed an offensive rebound and his put back pulled the Saints to 23-22. Trae Pemberton hit a midrange jumper to push the Saints back on top 24-23. In the final minute of the half, Pemberton closed the 7-0 run with a 3-pointer as Maryville settled for a 27-23 lead at the break. The Saints hit half of their 10 3-point attempts in the first 20 minutes.
Max Mischkulnig hit one free throw for a 28-23 lead until the Lakers answered to take a 31-30 advantage with 14 minutes to play. Later, Provo scored on a drive and drained a 3-pointer to force a tie at 35-all. After a Lake Superior score, Derek Deters sank a trey from the left wing for a 38-37 Maryville lead. LSSU went back ahead 42-38 until Josh Montague threw down another dunk to cut the deficit to 42-40 with 7:41 to go. The Lakers still held a 44-40 lead until one Mischkulnig free throw and a three-point play by Evan Booker forced a 44-44 deadlock with 5:30 remaining.
The Lakers then built a 51-44 lead as the Saints hurt themselves with missed free throws. With 3:32 left the Saints heated back up from the line as Mischkulnig sank two free throws, and Pemberton added a pair from the stripe as the Saints closed to 51-48. After a defensive stop, Montague converted another pair at the free-throw line to cut the gap to one with 2:18 to play. The Lakers hit one free throw and then converted on a layup for a 54-50 lead with 57 ticks left. Provo answered with a layup to pull the Saints to within two at 54-52 with 49 seconds left. Maryville's defense forced an LSSU turnover with 21 seconds left for a chance to tie or go ahead. Provo took the potential go-ahead 3-pointer but misfired. Deters tracked down the miss and fed Provo for another look but his final attempt did not find the range as the Lakers escaped with the win.
Montague paced the Saints with 13 points and eight rebounds. Provo added 12 points and four boards, while Deters handed out four assists. The Saints only managed to hit 37.8 percent from the field as they slipped to 1-1 on the season. Maryville hosts Lincoln at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, in the home opener at Moloney Arena.
